Håkon Thelin + Oslo Sinfonietta + Christian Eggen

Håkon Thelin is one of Norway's most innovative double bass players with a deep-held interest in folk music. For Only Connect he has assembled a team of musicians in an expanded lineup of Norway’s oldest contemporary ensemble Oslo Sinfonietta, who will premiere Thelin’s largest work to date. The ensemble will also be premiere Christian Eggen's medley Upålitelig oppsummering written for the Norwegian Society of Composers 100 Anniversary.

Double bass player and composer Håkon Thelin is one of the world’s leading representatives of new music, known from the trio POING, Oslo Sinfonietta, and international groups such as Ensemble Modern, Musikfabrik and Apartment House.

The bass concert The Ark is a refined and playful exploration of sounds located equally in Norwegian folk traditions as contemporary music, where deep instruments such as double basses, bass flute and bass drum dominate the soundscape. The idea to write a bass concert has been following Thelin for several years and the piece is highly personal in every way. The work gathers inspiration in the form of sounds, playing techniques, harmonies and music, as well as people, places and experiences that have been important during the time Thelin has been working with the piece.

The genre mixture of folk music tones and techniques from contemporary music is something Thelin has worked with for a long times, most recently with folk singer Unni Løvlid. The Ark will also draw inspiration from some Armenian folk tunes.

Thelin has written the piece primarily in his own head, rather than on the bass. As some of the music that emerged was too complicated to write down, parts of the work rest on improvising musicians to interpret, but with a score as the leading basic structure. Thelin, who normally plays in Oslo Sinfonietta, has for most parts been able to choose the musicians from the ensemble himself. He has also brought in some additional players, including Bulgarian trumpeter Sava Stoianov (Ensemble Modern), renowned folk musician Steinar Ofsdal on willow flute and timbre champion Ingar Zach on percussion.

Conductor, composer and pianist Christian Eggen has created a medley with brief glimpses from the Norwegian Society of Composers’ rich, 100-year-old catalogue, and more. Play catch the tune.

Thelin plays on a bass made by Giovanni Battista Ceruti (Cremona, 1800) provided by Sparebankstiftelsen DNB/Dextra Musica, and a bass made by Peter Elias in 1999.

Oslo Sinfonietta. Foto: Anna-Julia Granberg @Blunderbuss.no

Håkon Thelin has researched and presented a number of new playing techniques on the double bass. He has released three solo albums, including Light (2011) with his own compositions for the double bass, which won Spellemannprisen (Norwegian Grammy) in the category ”contemporary”. In 2015 he released his latest solo project Folk with works and texts that reflect on the encounter between contemporary music and folk music.

From 2007-2011 he worked as an artistic research fellow at the Norwegian Academy of Music, and he is now an Associate Professor of contemporary music at the same institution. Composing has also become a natural part of his work as a musician.

Oslo Sinfonietta is one of Norway’s most respected ensembles. Founded in 1986, the ensemble is the oldest within the Norwegian contemporary scene. Conductor and artistic director is Christian Eggen, who has had the lead since 1993.

The ensemble plays the best music of contemporary composers and seeks to engage and challenge the audience through inspiring productions of the highest artistic quality. Oslo Sinfonietta can show to an extensive discography list and plays regularly at festivals at home and abroad.